Flared vaginal stent

ABSTRACT

The invention is a flared vaginal stent comprising a cylinder with a flared, grooved tip. The flared tip has a partially flat surface and a curved opposite surface. The stent is designed to mimic the shape of the human vagina and is used to display the front and back surfaces of the vagina so as to facilitate placement and attachment of a graft to the full length of the anterior and posterior walls of the vagina. The flare is designed to flatten out the proximal vagina, in keeping with the natural flared shape of the proximal vagina. The flat surface is designed to allow suture placement for the full length of the vagina for attachment of the graft anteriorly. The curved posterior surface is designed to highlight the posterior surface of the vagina to aid suture placement on the posterior (underside) of the vagina.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to prior filedInternational Application, Serial Number PCT/US2011/066741 filed Dec.22, 2011, which is a non-provisional of currently pending U.S.Provisional Patent Application 61/425,872, entitled “A Flared VaginalStent”, filed Dec. 22, 2010, the contents of which are hereinincorporated by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to medical devices; more specifically, a vaginalstent for use in medical procedures such as the repair of vaginalprolapse.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The vagina is a long fibromuscular tube, extending from the perineum,approximately 9-15 centimeters inward and towards the sacrum in thehuman female. It is attached to the pelvic sidewall on the left and theright, and to the uterosacral ligaments, which pull the apex up towardsthe sacrum. As the vagina moves inward and to the sacrum, it flares outlaterally to maintain attachment to the pelvic sidewall. In women with auterus, the uterus attaches to the upper middle part of the vagina. Thecervix forms the topmost part of the vagina. In cases of vaginalprolapse, the tissues that support the vagina are broken, and the vaginafalls outward by telescoping on itself. The definitive way to repairthis prolapse, is to push the vagina back in, and hold it in place witha graft, which is attached to the back side of the vagina with sutures.Currently available methods for holding the vagina for suture placementdo not duplicate the shape of the vagina appropriately for optimalplacement of the attachment sutures and graft.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention duplicates the shape and length of the vagina soas to present the natural vaginal shape for suture placement and graftattachment. The present invention provides a vaginal stent. The designof the vaginal stent comprises a cylinder with a flared, grooved tip,the flared portion having one partially flat surface and a curvedopposite surface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference should be made tothe following detailed description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of the un-grooved vaginal stent in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the un-grooved vaginal stent in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the un-grooved vaginal stent in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the grooved vaginal stent in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the grooved vaginal stent in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the grooved vaginal stent in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments,reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a parthereof, and within which are shown by way of illustration specificembodiments by which the invention may be practiced. It is to beunderstood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changesmay be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

The present invention provides a vaginal stent. The design comprises acylinder with a flared, grooved tip, the flared portion having onepartially flat surface and a curved opposite surface. Designed to mimicthe shape of the human vagina, the stent is used to display the frontand back surfaces of the vagina so as to facilitate placement andattachment of a graft to the full length of the anterior and posteriorwalls of the vagina. The purpose of the flared portion is to flatten outthe proximal vagina, in keeping with the natural flared shape of theproximal vagina. The flat surface allows suture placement along the fulllength of the vagina for anterior attachment of the graft. The curvedposterior surface of the stent highlights the posterior surface of thevagina to aid suture placement on the posterior of the vagina.

One embodiment of the present invention, shown in FIGS. 1-3, provides avaginal stent 10 comprising a cylinder 11 with a flared, grooved tip 12,the flared portion having one partially flat surface 13 , and a curvedopposite surface 14. The flat surface does not have a groove. The flatsurface is used to present the vagina. This embodiment is for women withno uterus or cervix.

Another embodiment of the present invention, shown in FIGS. 4-6,provides a vaginal stent 20 comprising a cylinder 21 with a flared,grooved tip 22, the flared portion having one partially flat surface 23and a curved opposite surface 24. The flat surface contains a groove 25,which allows the cervix to fit such that the surfaces of the vagina canbe flattened out to facilitate suture and graft placement. Thisembodiment is for women with a cervix.

Currently known stent designs do not have the smooth shaped surface ofthe present invention for sewing a graft onto the vagina fortransabdominal prolapse repair. More specifically, no current stentdesign provides a stent flared at the tip to duplicate the natural shapeof the proximal human female vagina, as does the present invention.

In addition, currently known stent designs do not place a groove in thetip of the stent to accommodate the uterine cervix, while affording asmooth shaped surface on which to sew the graft in women with a cervix,as does the stent of the present invention.

Further, the flat anterior surface and curved posterior surface of thevaginal stent provided in the present invention, which is also notpresent in current stent designs, is designed to present the most distalaspects of the posterior vaginal wall for attachment and fixation of themesh via suturing.

The stent of the present invention duplicates the flared shape of thevagina and presents the anterior and posterior surfaces in such a way tofacilitate fixation of a graft to the anterior and posterior surfaces,even in the presence of a cervix, which would otherwise disrupt thevaginal surface and make graft fixation difficult.

It will be seen that the advantages set forth above, and those madeapparent from the foregoing description, are efficiently attained, andsince certain changes may be made in the above construction withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention, it is intended that allmatters contained in the foregoing description or shown in theaccompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as amatter of language, might be said to fall there between.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vaginal stent comprising: a cylinder having aflared tip, wherein the flared tip is comprised of a partially flatsurface and an opposing curved surface; wherein the flared tip is shapedto duplicate shape of a vagina.
 2. The vaginal stent of claim 1, furthercomprising a groove positioned in the partially flat surface.
 3. Thevaginal stent of claim 1, wherein the partially flat surface and thecurved surface are smooth.
 4. The vaginal stent of claim 1, wherein thevaginal stent is made of mesh.
 5. A method of treating vaginal prolapsein a woman comprising: inserting a vaginal stent into a vagina whereinthe vaginal stent is comprised of a cylinder having a flared tip,wherein the flared tip is comprised of a partially flat surface and anopposing curved surface; wherein the flared tip is shaped to duplicateshape of a vagina; positioning the vaginal stent so that the curvedsurface is in contact with the posterior surface of the vagina;providing a graft; and affixing the graft to the vagina; wherein thevaginal stent is positioned to display the front and back surfaces ofthe vagina to facilitate placement and attachment of the graft to fulllength of anterior and posterior walls of the vagina.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, wherein the vaginal stent is further comprised of a groovepositioned in the partially flat surface.
 7. The method of claim 6,further comprising aligning the cervix of the woman with the groove whenpositioning the vaginal stent in the vagina.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein the partially flat surface and the curved surface are smooth. 9.The method of claim 5, wherein the partially flat surface and the curvedsurface are smooth.
 10. The method of claim 5, wherein the graft isaffixed by sutures.
 11. The method of claim 5, wherein the vaginal stentis mesh.
 12. The method of claim 5, further comprising suturing thevaginal stent into the vagina.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein thevaginal stent is sutured into the posterior wall of the vagina.
 14. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the graft is attached to the anterior wall ofthe vagina.